Combined internal-combustion and turbine engine



'May 22, 1923. 1,456,479-

D. s. ATKINSON ET AL COMBINED INTERNAL COMBUSTION AND TURBINE ENGINE Filed April' 15. 1920 4 SheetsSheet 1 At M's May 22, 1923.

D. S. ATKINSON ET AL COMBINED INTERNAL COMBUSTION AND TURBINE ENGI NE Filed April 15 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 DSAIKmson J. McKenzie:

' I Arrg May 22, 1923. 1,456,479

D. S. ATKINSON ET Al.

COMBINED INTERNAL COMBUSTION AND TURBINE ENGINE Filed April 15 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ay 22, 1923. 1,45s,47s

I McKenzie Patented- May 22, i923.

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' eermntw IDll'JlEMQlAJL-GQHJBUSTEQJN AND TURBINE Ellfilm Application filed April 15, race. serial Ho. 8741,1662).

To allwhmne'twwy camera:

Be it own that we, Dene. Srnnnr Arnmson and James McKenzie, both of the city of Toronto, in the county of Yorlnrn the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Combined Internal-Combustion and Turbine Engines, of which the followin is the specification.

ilur invention relates to improvementsin combined internal combustion and turbine engines and the object of the invention is to devise an engine of the class described .which will partially explode the charge in internal combustion part of the engine and in which the partially exploded exhaust gases are introduced into the turbine part of engine in combination with steam generated from the water jacket of the reciprocat :m t part. A. further object is to so introduce ll steam into the turbine portion of the engine in combination with the eaust gases that these burning gases will superheat such steam before introduction into the turbine and will generate turther power by completing their combustion therein. A still further object is to construct the reciprocating part of the engine so that an impulse is given each piston for each revolution oi: the shaft. A still furthe reciprocating ther ob'ect is to construct an engine in which t e desi will be simplified by the ingtszion of valves, era and connectn 110 I a invention consists of a main shaft, a spider secured to the main shaft and adapted to revolve therewith, cylinders suitably ofiset from centre of the shaft, pistons ada ted to reciprocate in said cylinders, a stationary housing, a piston actuating cam suitably secured to such housing, means for connecting the pistons to the cam, a combustion chamber, a water jacket, a stator carried by said housing, arotor secured to the main shaft, said rotor and stator provided with a plurality of opposed bucket portions, means for introducing gas into the combustion chamber and means for introducing the steam generated in the water jacket into the buckets in the turbine portion and means for expelling the partially combusted gases in combination with the ste into the said buckets. Another object is to construct an engine in which the scavenging of each cylinder is complete, all as hereier more particularly described and illustrated in the accompanying drawin in which 1g. 1 represents a vertical section through the reciprocating internal combustion portionef an engine constructed according to our invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof.

0 Fig. 3 is an elevation of the turbine portron ofthe engine, part of same be shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail show a piston and a modified form of connections between the same and the cam.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of a modified form of engine showing same partly in section;

Fig. 6 is a cross section thereof.

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of a piston and a modified form of connections used in the type of engine depicted in Figures 5 and 6. r

Fig. 8 is an elevation (partly in section) of a modified form of reciprocating internal combustion portion in which the cam is so designed that the combusted gases will be fully expanded before being ejected from the reciprocating portion.

lbike characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the difierent views.

1 is the main shaft, 2 is the spider secured to the shaft 1 and carrying the ofiset cylinders. 3. These cylinders are so ofiset that their longitudinal axis is a tangent to a circle concentric with the shaft.

4 are pistons adapted to be reciprocated in the cylinders 3, each of said pistons carrying the rollers 5 revolubly mounted therein. 6 shaft 1, and 7 is the piston actuating suitably secured to such housing. 'lhls cam 7 is provided with two faces 8 and 9. The rollers 5 engage the cam face 8. 10 are links swingably mounted on the said pistons and carrying on their outer ends the rollers 11 which engage the faces 9 of the said cam. 'lhe rollers 5 are the power rollers and the rollers 11 are merely subsidiary rollers for drawing the pistons into the suction position.

12 is the combustion chamber provided with a suitable ignition means such as the spark plug 13. 14 is the water jacket, 15 is the gas intake port suitabl connected to an intake manifold connecte in turn with the usual carburetor, 16 is the water intake to the jacket 14.

17 is the stator suitably secured to the is the housing carrying the mainllO he 6 and 18 is a rotor suitahly secured to the shaft 1, the stator 1'? and the rotor 18 being provided'with the opposed buckets 19 and 26 respectively.

21 is an end plate suitably secured to the housing 6, 22 is the exham orifice through which the exhaust gases and steam are finally ejected from the turbine, in the form of engine shown in Figures 1,2, and 3. The partiall combusted gases are introduced to the tur me through a nozzle 23 inserted within the steam nozzle 24. The upper end of the latter nozzle is rovided with a suitable stufling box 25. t will also be seen on reference to the figures stated that the piston actuating cam in this instance is placed exteriorly whereas in the modification depicted in Figures 5 and 6 it is placed interiorly. The combustion chamber and water jacket are also placed interiorly of the drum 26 which is suitably secured to the diaphragm 27 secured to the housing 6. The pistons have their heads at their inner ends whereas in the modified form, shown in Figures 5 and 6 these heads are at their outer ends.

The operation of the en ine illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 is as f0 ows The gas is introduced into the combustion chamber 12 through the intake port 15, the pistons 4 then being at the bottom of the stroke as indicated in the uppermbst piston in Figure 1. The engine revolving in a clockwise direction, in the cylinder 3 b the action of the power roller 5 engaging t e inner face 8 of the cam 7. This compresses the gas to the full extent when it is introduced into the combustion chamber 12. The as is now ignited by the spark plug 3' or ot er suitable ignition device. The cylinders being ofiset as indicated, an impulse is thus given to the fired cylmder in a clockwise direction. As the cylinder revolves the gas expands and forces 1;

e piston down in the cylinder a certain extent. Then owin to the shape of the cam 7' the piston is orced up again and the as ejected throu h the exhaust port 28 into t e nozzle 23 and thus into the buckets 19 and 20 of the turbine. On rotation of the turbine the expanding gas is further combusted and expanded and is driven from bucket 19 to bucket 20 alternately until finally ejected from exhaust orifice 22. The water in the jacket 14 is heated b the heat generated in the combustion cham si- 12 due to the explosion of the gases therein. This causes steam to be generated in such water jacket and this steam is exhausted through the nozzle 24 into the buckets 19 and 20 of the turbine. A siphoning efiect is obtained reason of the exhaust gases being forced b through the same nipple 29 as the steam.-

. The hot exhaust gases in the nozzle 23 serve to superheat the steam in the nozzle 24 and it is further superheated in the buckets 19 the piston is forced up' aesaere force and further aided by the rollers 11 engaging the face 9 of the cam 7 This coinpletes the cycle of one cylinder. Each cylinder, of course, operates in exactly the same manner as described above. In the modification shown in Figures 5 and 6 the operation is identical with that described above with the exception thatthe rollers 11 acting on the face 9 of the cam are essential, as centrifugal force would act against the moving of the pistons into the suction position.

Furthermore the steam in this instance is introduced into the buckets of the turbine through the exhaust gases instead of the gases being introduced through the steam as described above. The result, however, with regard to the superheating of the steam and regeneration of exhaust gases is identical in this form. In this modification a steam control valve 30 is introduced into the exhaust nozzle 23, this valve having a depending nozzle 31 which takes the place of the nozzle 24 in the form shown in Fig. 3.

With regard to the oonstructionof the turbine portion of the engine in this modified form, the stator is situated exteriorly of the rotor instead of the reverse, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. In the modified form shown in Figures 5 and6 the water jacket and combustion chamber are placed exteriorly instead of in the drum 26 as described above.

In both the forms described above the gas is not fully expanded When not desired to complete combustion prior to the exhaust into the turbine, whereas in the modified form shown in Figure 8, the cam 7 is so designed that the gases will be fully expanded.

From the above description it will be seen that We have devised an engine'which will efiect considerable saving in fuel for any particular horsepower as the steam bein combined with the gas will give increased power; In addition the heat is conserved and utilized in the generation of steam, whereas in the ordinary internal combustion engine the energy of the heat is wasted.

Further there is considerable saving in the cost of the ignition system as a complicated distributor or commutator is not required.

It is to be understood that in order to inignited as it is net I crease the factor of safety we may .use a plurality of spark plugs or other suitable ignition device either sparking in sequence accents over an ordinary internal combustion engine of equivalent size and speed owing to the fact that an impulse is given to each piston for eachrevolution. fhere is also considerably reduced vibration owing to the continuous power output. In addition there is a considerable saving in weight per horsepower over present types of internal combustion engines at present in use, owing to the increased power output. What we claim as our invention is- 1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a revoluble power shaft, of cylinders mounted about said shaft, pistons reciprocatin in said cylinders, a single rollers suitably journalled to the pistons and engaging against one face of the cam,

yokes pivotally connected to the pistons and rollers journalled to the yokes and engaging the other faoe of the cam.

3. In an internal combustion engine, a revoluble power shaft, cylinders mounted about the power shaft, pistons in the cylinders, a piston actuating cam, said cam having two faces, a hollow drum, a combustion chamber in the periphery of the hollow drum, suitably situated intake and exhaust ports in the eriphery of said hollow drum, rollers revoliibly mounted on the pistons engaging one face of the said cam, yokes pivotally connected to said pistons and rollers revolubly mounted on the yokes and engaging the other face of said cam.

4. n a combined internal combustion and turbine engine, the combination with a retatable power shaft, cylinders mounted about said power shaft, a single combustion chamber, intake and exhaust ports communicating with said cylinders upon their rotation, pistons in said cylinders, means for actuating said pistons, a water jacket in proximity to said combustion chamber, a rotor secured to said power shaft, a stator, opposed buckets in the rotor and stator and nozzles respectively connecting the exhaust port and water jacket with the stator for simultaneously admitting the exhaust gases from the cylinders and the steam from the Water jacket into the opposed buckets, said nozzle connecting with the exhaust port extending through the nozzle connectm with the water jacket.

ALE- SYDNEY ATKINSON.

JANE-S MQKENZIE. 

